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Posted: July 9, 2008

Nanotechnology oversight: An agenda for the new administration

(Nanowerk News) Few domestic policy areas that the new administration must address will have greater long-range consequences than nanotechnology — a new technology that has been compared with the industrial revolution in terms of its impact on society. If the right decisions are made, nanotechnology will bring vast improvements to almost every area of daily living. If the wrong decisions are made, the American economy, human health and the environment will suffer.

Nanotechnology can have a major impact on many of the most important problems facing the United States. It can reduce dependence on foreign oil, help deal with global climate change, improve the country's health system, strengthen national defense, help fight terrorism and make a major contribution to the national economy. Nanotechnology is also important as a prototype of the technological opportunities and challenges that will characterize the 21st Century. The country needs to learn how to deal with potential adverse consequences of new technologies and how to make sure that the technologies best serve society's needs.

Join former Environmental Protection Agency official J. Clarence Davies, one of the nation's foremost authorities on environmental regulation and policy, at the release of his new report that identifies the steps the incoming president must take to deal with the potential risks posed by nanotechnology.

*** Webcast LIVE at www.wilsoncenter.org ***

What: Release of a new report, Nanotechnology Oversight: An Agenda for the New Administration